


Ripple

by ellethom



Series: THe Color of Music: JB Appreciation Week 2015 [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Academia, F/M, JB Week Day 3: Green JB Week Day 4: Gold, Kinda tropey, Past Lives, Two days one fic, this one got away from me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 14:30:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4964305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellethom/pseuds/ellethom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is days 3 and 4 Green and Gold.  The first chapter is green, and the second is gold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. If I knew The Way I would Take You Home

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is late, i could not reign this into one fic. These two would not shut the hell up so i had to make it two days. The second chapter will be up later tonight or early tomorrow. 
> 
> Thanks for reading The title is from a Grateful Dead song, like really the most beautiful tune ever and just fits here so well. Listen to it as you read. I say that all the time but i wonder if anyone ever does.
> 
> Let there be songs to fill the air.

“Hi, Miss Tarth?” the over friendly voice on the other side of the line answered.

“Yes?” Brienne answered.  She had been on hold for thirty minutes; all in the name of scholary research and finishing chapter 12 of her dissertation. 

“Mr. Lannister would like to apologize for the wait, but he has been called away unexpectedly.—“

“But we had an _appointment_!” she fumed trying to not sound like a petulant child. “I’ve been on hold for twenty minutes!” she fumed. “I’m on a schedule with my dissertation.  It’s not going to take more time than what I have just spent on hold!”

The voice on the other end apologized for any inconvenience that Mr. Lannister’s emergency may have caused, and offered to reschedule for next week when Mr. Lannister was free.

After hanging up the phone, Brienne sank into her old plaid couch and rested her head into her hands.  There weren’t a lot of choices; that old sword had to come from somewhere, and all evidence pointed to Lannister interference. 

She sighed and slipped on her wool pea coat, deciding a large Macchiato might calm her nerves, especially with a shot of caramel and a double of espresso. 

Dr. Stark, her advisor, had been on her back about finishing her dissertation so they could schedule her defense.  Truthfully, she was finished, but the only thing that needing completion was about that damn sword.  According to her father, the sword had been in her family for hundreds of years; no one knew where it came from.

There had to be a story behind it, and what a story it was.                                             

A Medieval warrior woman who lived her life by her own honor; she was possibly the first female knight in Westeros.  She shared a name with the ancient woman; Brienne of Tarth was knighted under the reign of Queen Daenerys Targaryen, but she had also served under the Starks as well.  There was evidence from the sword that she had somehow served under the Lannisters, but the historian for that family was hard to get a hold of. Brienne and her father had not even known the fabrication of the sword until her father got it appraised when Brienne was in high school.  He had considered selling it to pay for her education but Brienne begged him to keep it in the family; that it had spent hundreds of years residing on Tarth and for whatever reason that was where it belonged.

The only other option was to go to the ancient Lannister holdfast and try to get answers there.  Someone must know something about her family’s sword. Brienne had researched all she could, but maybe it was time to go and find some truths for herself.

<><> 

The drive from the airport in Lannisport to Casterly Rock was beautiful.  She had never been to the Western provinces of the country; Brienne had always assumed it was nothing but blonde suffers, flighty actresses and overinflated egos.  The entire province looked like something out of a reality show; high priced homes, green palms; stores and boutiques that looked as if they did not need your business.   Brienne parked her rental car outside of the Casterly Rock Museum, paid the entrance fee and made her way to the medieval exhibition rooms.

She spotted it nearly right away.  It had been her plan to talk to one of the curators and use Catelyn Stark’s credentials to see the off items that weren’t on display.  But, in the center of the room, next to a standing display of golden armor was a long display case.  Inside was her sword.

Last time she had seen six months ago, it was on the mantle in her father’s home, where it has been since she could remember, and, according to her father, it had always been there, even his father’s father time.

So how is her sword in Lannisport?

Without thinking, Brienne whipped out her phone and took five pictures.  She quickly fired them off to her father with an accusatory text.

“Excuse ma’am, no photos please.” The guard said as he advanced upon her.

“That’s my sword. “ Brienne said in a voice far above a whisper.  “Why is my sword here?”

“Ma’am,” the guard voiced, hands in position to defend himself and whatever crazy the too tall woman was unleashing.

Brienne took a deep breath and began to flip through her phone. “This,” she insisted bringing up a photo she took two years ago, she and her father in front of the sword.  “This is my sword. “  She turned her phone so the guard could see the picture.  He took a double take and began to walk away with her phone as if in a daze.  “Hey!” Brienne shouted.

“One minute, please just one minute.” The guard insisted. “I will be right back.”

Brienne wanted to follow, that iphone was expensive, but something in his demeanor told her this was a big deal.  She was starting to wonder why her father sold the sword, did he need the money?  Was he ill?

Just as she was crafting the worst case scenario involving her father’s health and unpaid bills, a voice knocked her out of her reverie. “Miss?” he asked.   Brienne’s breath caught in her throat.  He was easily the most attractive man she had ever seen. 

Damn Lannisport and their easy availability to plastic medicine, now she was forced to stare at the blonde god whose green eyes seemed to know she was staring.

“Yes?” she asked, arms folded.  His long fingers held her phone while the other hand waved her over. “I think we have something interesting here.” He said with a smile that could have allowed him to get away with murder.

She moved to his side as they both turned toward the case with the sword in it. “This, is an old family sword.” He said with a wave toward the case. “It has been in my family for over five hundred years.”

“Mine too,” Brienne nodded. “It’s been in my family’s home since time out of mind.”

“Valyrian steel.” The man offered.

Brienne nodded; it was the steel that was valuable, more so than the pure gold of the hilt. “My father had wanted to sell it 6 years ago but I managed to discourage him.  Whatever he has offered you Mr….”

“Lannister. He said nonchalantly. “Jaime Lannister.”

“You!” she fired.

“I’m sorry?” he asked with a smirk. “Did I torment you in Kindergarten?”

Brienne shook her head and snatched her phone back.  The vibration alerted her to a reply from her father.  He had sent a picture of himself with today’s newspaper in front of the sword.

“Well, “ Jaime offered with a grin. “Guess that answers that. “

“One of these has to be a fake, then.” She insisted. “And since we had ours appraised six years ago, my guess would be this one.” She pointed to the case. “Is a fake.”

“Why?” Jaime asked.

Brienne ran her hand through her short hair. “How can there be two identical Valariyan steel swords?  The hilts were specific to the crafters make and the house that ordered them.  Why would there be two identical swords?”

“Maybe they were made for brothers, or father and son.”

“Well, it’s your house.  Wouldn’t you know?”

Jaime nodded. “Yes, the markings on these are clearly Lannister.”  Jaime placed a finger on his lip. “Can you come to my office, please?  I would rather not have this conversation out here.”

Brienne nodded and followed him down the long corridor and up a flight of winding stairs into a set of offices.  A smallish woman in braces and brown hair waved at him as they passed by. “Pia, give me an hour off the schedule, all right?”

Sure thing, Mr. Lannister.” She offered from behind a computer screen.

“Oh, It’s that easy, is it” Brienne asked Pia. “I have been trying to get through to speak with Mr. Lannister for three months, and you just, cancel all his appointments for an hour.  What happens to all those people that had appointments?”

Jamie smirked from the doorway of his large office. “I guess they will have to take another number and stand in line. Or,” he said leading her to his desk. “Show up at my museum making allegations about us stealing things.”

“Sorry,” Brienne mumbled. “Its just that , that sword has been a constant in my life. “

“I can understand that.” Jaime offered. “Widow’s Wail has been a sort of obsession of mine since I was a child. It’s the reason I took fencing.”

Brienne felt a sudden ease and leaned back into the comfortable leather chair before she could catch herself. “Me too,” she smiled.

A silence fell between the two strangers, but creeping through the physicality of it was a familiarity that neither could place their fingers upon.  If asked, they would chalk it up to having loved the same sword for most of their lives. Finally, Jaime’s curiosity won the battle of complicity and he spoke. “Miss…

“Brienne.” She insisted. ”Just Brienne,”

He nodded and leaned forward onto the black, weirrdwood desk.  “What do you know about the sword, about where it is from?”

Brienne shuffled through her leather file and began amassing papers upon the desk. “My ancestor, it was her sword.”

“Her?” he asked surprised. “It belonged to a woman?”

Brienne nodded. “Yes, Brienne of Tarth.  I was named for her.”

“I see,” he nodded. “She must have been quite the Warrior.”

“There were no pictures or art of her and little is known other than she was knighted by Daenerys Targaryen.”

A light seemed to go on behind the green eyes of the man across from her.  He stood and rushed to a file cabinet in the corner of his office. “Daenerys Targaryan, did you say?” he said. “The Queen after the War of the Five Kings?”

“Yes?” Brienne said, edging her body to watch Jaime’s manic searching. “why?”

He shrugged. “One, it puts a time on the sword.  I mean, if that was when she was knighted, and the sword was hers then it may be assumed they were forged around that time.”

“People used old swords all the time back then.  Valyrian steel was and still is hard to come by since the Doom of Valyria.” Brienne said. Especially in Westeros.  I think at the time of my ancestor there were only 250 Valyrian swords in Westeros, including Dorne.”

He nodded then, “Sure, sure. But the markings on the hilt.  I had always thought the style came from a certain time period and I think you just helped me out.”

“Maybe you can help me then.”  Brienne fired back.

“Oh, I can do way more than that.” Jaime said waving a file triumphantly. “I think I know why there are two swords.”

“SO they are not copies?”

Jaime smiled “Oh, no, if this is what I think it is, then these two were in fact forged at the same time. They were meant as a set.” He sat at the edge of his desk facing her.

“How would Brienne of Tarth be in possession of a Lannister sword?  It makes no sense.  There were no links between Tarth and the Westerlands.”

“Your ancestor was given this sword by a Lannister.  Though, history has erased a name.  I can’t imagine why she would have been given a Lannister sword. Maybe she pulled it from a dead Lannister during the War of the Five Kings?”

Brienne shook her head and tried to ignore the slight. “Maybe she saved one of them from something?”

“Maybe,” he nodded. “It’s hard to say.” Jaime shrugged. “I find it hard to believe a woman could have saved a Lannister, even if she was as tall and quite honestly _frightening_ as you.”

Brienne. “So, my sword is Lannister forged then.” She wondered. “Which provides a link between your house and mine.”  Brienne wiped her hands over her face, “And throws a whole new wrench into my dissertation. “

Jaime seemed amused. “A PhD candidate?  Is that what this is about?” he sneered. “And here I thought you were serious about solving a mystery”

“I am serious.” Brienne shouted. “When I was a kid, I used to imagine adventures with that sword.  I would imagine I was Ser Brienne, and I had to rescue—“

 “Fair maidens?” Jaime snickered.

She shot out of her seat, pulled her papers together into a haphazard pile and shoved them into her case. “Thanks for nothing.” She spat. “I’ll see myself out.”

“See that you do.” Jaime said.

The anger carried her back to her rental car; she had not even stopped to look at the sword in its case on her way out.  All her life people had sought to define her by her looks, as if her lack of beauty spoke of anything more than bad genetics.  Jaime Lannister could afford to be as crass and enraging as he wanted to be, beautiful people had that right.  But Brienne always knew the world saw her differently, viewed her with an eye that she wished would allow her to fade into the background.

The hotel she had reserved for the night was the cheapest in the city and still it was far more than she wanted to spend.  Her flight back to King’s Landing was not until late the next day but Brienne knew she had found all she would here in Lannisport.

A knock on the door roused her from the nap that had snuck up on her.  She groggily opened the door.  “Delivery,” the hotel employee smiled. “Brienne Tarth?” I was asked to deliver these to you.”

“From whom?” she asked taking the pot of blue irises.  Instead of answering, the tall man bowed and turned back down the hall.  Brienne slammed the door shut and sniffed the flowers.  An envelope fell to the floor.

Jaime Lannister was a world class pain in the ass, but at least he had class.

_Miss Tarth,_

_I think we can help each other solve a few mysteries._

_J._

He had included his business card and personal email and cell number. She would have wondered about how he knew where to find her, but Brienne wasn’t a student of Medieval History without understanding the long and far reaching scope of the Lannister family.  Perhaps he could be an ally, her dissertation on Brienne Tarth had suddenly taken a slide into a different path.  While she had been focusing on her ancestor’s life, the sword was the key; it was what would tie everything together.

Perhaps an ally would not be such a bad thing, even if it was Jaime Lannister.


	2. There is a Fountain That was not Made by the Hands of Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is Gold, for day 4. Hope you guys like it. If it seems abrupt i had to shut them up. gods how they love to talk.

From: jlannister@casterlyrock.org

To: btarth@klu.edu

Subject:  Fair maidens

Hey, just a heads up.  I am looking up some of the method in Valyrian swords throughout Westeros to see if any of them match our kids.  What has me so confused is that these swords aren't really historically tied to House Lannister. Then one in the museum here came about around the same time as Brienne of Tarth.

Casterly had Brightroar, and for a while I thought that was the one in my museum, but it doesn't match the historical descriptions.  I will keep looking

We should get these two together some time.  And what kind of name is Oathkeeper for a sword?

 

 

From: btarth@klu.edu

To: jlannister@casterlyrock.org

Subject: re: fair maidens

Mr. Lannister,

I appreciate all the help you have been giving me these last four weeks.  I had never heard of the Lannister sword but if it was only one then that does not explain the two we are researching. 

I have found some records in the old Citadel regarding Ser Brienne's knighting.  She was supposed to join the Queensguard but she was refused and then left Kings landing suddenly.

The records don't make sense, all of the family lore that I have known about her claims it was her one desire was to be a knight in her own right, to serve a house or regent.  Why would she turn it down?

Sorry, I get a little carried away and I am frustrated, my advisor is still considering my extension, she says a possible tie to House Lannister may not be the best addition to my dissertation.

Best regards,

B. Tarth B.A. M.S. M.A.

 

From: jlannister@casterlyrock.org

To: btarth@klu.edu

Subject: re:  re:   Fair maidens

Seriously?... I have no words for that.  This is a huge mystery and a large part of Ser Brienne is that sword.  It's survived linger than the stories if how she even got it.  If it came from a Lannister then I can only assume that there is an importance in finding out the whole story.

This is why I hate academia.

BTW. I think you are onto something, but you're missing a piece.  Could she had left to get married.  During that time, a womam's greatest worth was between her legs.  Have you checked the dates if her marriage.

 J.

 

From: btarth@klu.edu

To: jlannister@casterlyrock.org

Subject: re: fair maidens

 

Mr. Lannister,

Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement.  Dr. Stark has granted me my extension though grudgingly. 

In regards to Ser Brienne, she never married.  After the near destruction of Tarth she returned to help rebuild.  It is possible, though, that she returned to Tarth to aid in the rebuilding effort.  That does make sense.  Thank you for being a sounding board. Your ideas, though muddied are actually helping each to gain a different perspective.

As far as a woman's worth being between her legs, might I remind you that Queen Daenerys never had children and managed to contribute to society quite nicely. 

Best regards

B. Tarth B.A. M.S. M.A.

 

From: jlannister@casterlyrock.org

To: btarth@klu.edu

Subject: Meow!!

No offense intended, I was just being culturally relevant for the time.  I mean, I personally think a woman wielding a sword is hit, very hot. 

Very Hot

My research into Ser Brienne shows she spent a lot of time transverse get Westeros for a time, there are records of her ( see attachments) having been in the Quiet Isle.  Nothing much more than her name signed in a self on registry.

Also, do you have a lineage chart for Tarth?  I can't find one that goes back any further than two hundred years.

FYI,  I would keep the Lannister tie in on the low as much as possible to your advisor: Starks and Lannisters are kind of like, well Starks and Lannisters.  What I understand if the feud could fit on the head of a pin, but the hate is real.  I'll have to ask my brother about it, he is the real historian for politics.

 J.

<><><>< 

 

B:  If your brother is the real historian, then maybe I should be corresponding with him.

J:  Seriously?  I finally get you to text me and it's to throw shade?

B: Mr. Lannister, I don't think you understand the seriousness if my situation, or anything for that matter.

J: Chill homie, my brother isn't really a historian, he just watches a lot of public television, it's his savant.

B: I sent you the lineage, did you get it.

J: The fact that you are a descendant of Sir Duncan the Tall just explains so much

B: Are you going to be helpful?

J:  I thought I was being helpful.  Ser Brienne was the only hire, it would make sense that she left to rebuild.

B:  That's what I said! 

J: So the heir after her? Since she never married.

B: Ser Gerion of Tarth, he was a distant cousin.  He would have to be since Ser Brienne had  no other immediate family.  She chose duty over everything.

J: Dogged Determination, surely a family trait

B: Though it makes me sad that I may not be a direct descendant, I mean a distant cousin of family friend does not give a close tie to Ser Brienne.  It's sort of sad that she never had love,

J: You don't know that for sure, what we are seeing are finite details, the subtleties are often lost over time.  I am sure there was someone somewhere who managed to get into Big Brienne

B: Watch it Lannister

J: Jaime.  My name is Jaime.

<><> 

Her phone jarred her out of deep sleep.  She had been dreaming of water, of home.  She was on a skiff, heavy with Oathkeeper gripped in her hand.  In the dream she swiveled around to find where the buzzing was coming from.  She awoke to the cell opine by her head, face planted in an old time that should have been titled Boring Histories.

"You free this weekend." The male voice said as if they had been carrying in an hour long conversation and she had only come in at the end.

"I'm sorry?" She asked trying to place the voice.

"For what?" The voice fired back. "Are you free this weekend or not?"

Jaime, of course he would call at o dark thirty. "I guess?" She hemmed. "I am supposed to drive out to White Harbor, one of the libraries there has a-"

"Don't." Jaime said with a tone of finality. "I am coming to King's Landing, I fly in in Friday. I've got some...things to show you."

"Just send it as an attachment." She answered with a deep sigh, wondering if it was worth it to go back to sleep for two hours or just stay awake.

"I've been toiling over this for months. The least you can do is take me out for a nice dinner to thank me for all my selfless suffering."

"You wanna know about this as bad as I do," Brienne huffed. "I don't think I could beat you away from this mystery."

"You could _try._ " Jaime said with an odd tone. "Just dinner, I think you'll like what I have to say."

"I'm a poor college student." She raged.

"Oh for gods sakes, do you think I'd make you pay for a date?" He asked.  "I'll see you Friday.  Wear something blue."

Before she could object to any of his assertions, Jaime ended the call.  Brienne slid back into bed and spent the two hours she had considered sleeping instead wondering if she could get out of it.

 

><>< 

 

He had used the word date, and four days of rationalization gave Brienne a clarity that allowed her to walk into the expensive restaurant that he had picked.  It was just a joke, she had shrugged to her reflection every time her traitorous mind tried to drag her into forbidden territory.

He was already waiting at the brass and leather bar when she entered, his smile, more dazzling than the one she had seen that first day.  Brienne drew in a deep breath but could not keep her face from returning the smile. Though she was sure it looked much better in him.  Brienne caught a glimpse of the two of them in the mirror behind the bar, a mismatched set.  He tall, tanned and beautiful while she was taller, uglier and scarred.

But gods he smelled so good.

But he reached over to hug her before the hostess came to seat them. " You look good in blue." He whispered in her ear as they followed the wo through the dining area. "Your eyes are astounding."

She ignored his compliments and slid into her seat. "So what's this great find?"

"You don't waste time, do you?" He asked. "Can we at least order first?"

She nodded and began to wonder how her life got to this point. After they placed their orders and made a reasonable amount of small talk, Jaime placed a stack of papers on the table between them. "You may not like what I found.  Well my brother found it, well we both did.  Kind of."

"Smooth," Brienne grinned "You seem nervous? This must be big."

He indeed solemnly. "Your Dr. Stark might refute your defense of you decide to add this to your declaration."

"You're scaring me." She whispered.

Jaime opened the Manila folder and slid a photocopy across the table. " What do you see?"

She read over the lineage and shrugged. "It's a popular name.  Like Addam or Bryndon."

"Except," he said leaning forward, "Names were tied to houses back then.  mostly.  I am not saying that Jeyne was a name specific to the Westerlings, but Gerion was used quite a few times in the Lannister line."

Brienne shrugged again. There is no proof that-"

"Do you recall I mentioned the sword Brightroar?"

Brienne nodded.

He pointed to the lineage chart. "Gerion Lannister disappeared while searching for the legendary Valyrian sword.  He was never found again."

"So, you think, what? Gerion Lannister was the named heir of Tarth?"

Jaime laughed. "No, I think he would have been 90 by the time he was named heir.  But, is it possible it was a Lannister that was named heir of Tarth? It would explain the sword."

Brienne fingered the sheet. " But then why wouldn't he be Gerion Lannister of Tarth?  One thing I have. Know is that all of you Lannisters, even back then, are super proud of that name. "

"I'll grant you that." Jaime smiled and Brienne found herself catching her breath. "Unless he was a bastard."

She nodded, that made sense the line of a bastard was clear, they would have had the last name if Waters for Tarth. "But it's not Gerion Waters.  It’s just Gerion of Tarth.”

“Like Ser Duncan the Tall?” he smirked.

Brienne could not wrap her mind around it.  If any of this was true, then Ser Brienne of Tarth was little more than a trope, a woman who went off to be a knight and returned in shame. “I don’t know if I buy any of this.” She said finally.

“It fits, Brienne.” Jaime insisted.  The waiter had brought their dinner but she could do little more than move the expensive meal around her plate. “The question is, which Lannister got up under all that armor.”

“We don’t know that for sure.” She insisted.

“Ser Brienne went home to Tarth instead of living as a knight of the queensguard.  She shows up with a Lannister sword at a time when the Lannisters were nearly wiped out.”

“She would not have allowed someone to use her like that.  She could have been raped.”

“Why is this so hard for you?” He asked as if he really wanted to know.  And god help her, but Brienne started to believe he did want to know.

She ducked her eyes, refusing to look at him. “Have you ever had a personal hero?  Someone you looked up to?  Like, someone who you could pin your life against and say, its all right, they had that, or didn’t have that.  Same as you, it’s all good.”

Jaime nodded and she went on. “Ser Brienne is that for me.  I, “ she drew a deep breath. “I never worried over relationships.  I never had to.” She made a vague wave at her own face and Jaime frowned.  “Having Ser Brienne as an icon let me be okay with it, you know?”

He nodded again, allowing her to speak.

“I didn’t have to worry about being in love because it was something that Ser Brienne did not have and managed to live a full life, live her dreams.  I—“

“Brienne.” Jaime tried. "It doesn't have to be that way."

But she could feel the tears burn, the scorn the mockery she had experienced most of her life.  Ser Brienne had been that security blanket.  If she had found love, even briefly, then she was the freak in the family.  She bolted past the restrooms and out of the front door.

 

<><> 

 

In the end, she added it all.  Not as fact, nor as conjecture, but somewhere in between.  During her defense, the panel asked her hard questions that she had to bite the side of her cheek to keep a straight face.  They all wanted to know which Lannister would have given Ser  Brienne the definite sword and the possible bastard.  She posited that perhaps the two were not connected, though Dr. Maribald seemed to think otherwise.  He kept coming back to the questions of lineage and the second sword in Lannisport.  He was so insistent that for a time, Brienne worried he would deny her defense.

Brienne had avoided Jaime for months, had assumed he took the hint when he stopped trying. When she called her father to tell him she had been approved, that her dissertation allowed her to have the coveted Ph.D. next to her name, he congratulated her and asked if she could come home for the weekend.  That he had a special surprise for her.

Brienne decided to fly home, it would give her more time with her father and a bit of a vacation before classes started.  She had been hired to teach in the history department at KLU, and Brienne was informed she should consider herself tenure tracked.

It was so good to be home, and two days into her vacation, her father found her on the beach. “You need to come to the house.” He said with a queer note.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

But her father had already turned toward the house.

Jaime stood when she entered the living room.  He offered a dopey grin and moved to meet her. “You’ve been avoidning me.” He accused.

Brienne shrugged but said nothing.

He turned suddenly, “well?” he asked with a wave toward the mantle. “What do you think?”

She looked at the two swords in the new larger case.  One was a little smaller than the other, “Widow’s Wail?” she said. “Why did you bring it here?”

He turned to her then, a look so rare it took her breath again. “DO you believe in fate?”

“Seriously?” she asked.

He took her hand and squeezed it. “We may never know who it was for her, for Ser Brienne.  Who owned her heart and gave her that sword.  But, I have to believe he loved her.  Look at them together, Brienne.” He nodded toward the two swords. “I have to believe he gave her that sword out of love; that he understood who she was.  He could have given her riches, gowns jewels.  He gave her a sword. He knew who she was and loved her for it.”

“That’s a lot to assume.” She whispered, daring not to cut her voice any louder.

Jaime shook his head. “Imagine how may ripples had to happen for the two of us to get to this moment, to bring these two back together again.  Perhaps, he fought at her side, perhaps he saved her as much as she saved him.” He pulled her closer. “His name faded into history, but she shined enough for both of them.”

Brienne could imagine it then, two warriors against the world, when one fell one went on. “It’s sad.”

 

Jaime shook his head and pulled her into his arms, “Its Joy, Ser Brienne did not live her entire life without love.  And neither will you.” He brought his lips to hers so softly as if drawing a wounded animal into the sun. “I brought that sword here, because they belong together.”

 

 


End file.
